Yet Another Living Room Post

I'm not obsessing about what to do in the living room.  No, I would NEVER do that.  It's just not how I work. Are you buying that?  Any of it?

Yeah, me neither.

I know, I know, this is becoming a common topic for posts.  Obsessions'll do that to ya.

Here's where the obsession room currently stands (sans the solid pillows which I sold at my parent's tag sale last weekend).

Hubby and I had an awesome discussion on the scenic drive home from a friend's wedding in upstate New York on Saturday about the state of this room.  We both agree that we need to focus on one space at a time so that we don't get overwhelmed (too late).  Logically, the living room is the place to start.  It's the first room you see when you come in the house and its the room we spend the most waking hours in.  We also agree that it's the room that just isn't working for one reason or another.  Unfortunately, another thing that we agree on is the fact that we shouldn't be spending a lot of money on new furniture right now, so my dreams of a new couch will need to be put on hold.  A girl can still dream though, right?

Isn't she sweet?  She's from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams (which is located 5 minutes from the house.  Coincidence? I think not).  But she'll have to wait.

Hubby and I plan to "shop" our house first to see if we can spice it up with minimal $$.  We plan to try our vintage red chair (which has been hanging out in the office/computer room and I don't seem to have any real pictures of) in place of the matchy chair and see how the scale works.  With a smaller chair in that spot, it might open up that corner a little bit- which is currently a dead area.  I'm torn about this corner.  To bookcase or not no bookcase?  I keep waffling.  As of this current moment, I'm leaning toward no... but then I need to find a different end table for that space.

This weekend may be an action weekend to make something happen in this room.  I'll keep you posted!!

What rooms have you been obsessing dreaming about revamping?

Shedding

At long last, our small shed has become an organizational masterpiece.  Ok, so I may be exaggerating a TOUCH... but it's looking good.

Here was it's pseudo-starting point (I say pseudo because the shed got worse in the time span between these pictures and finally starting the organizational process... oops):

The shed only had 2 steps worth of clear floor space.  Totally functional, right?  Well, that's why I fixed it.

My organizational tools for this project were:

• Peg board and pegs (CAUTION: these are located in separate sections of your friendly local hardware warehouse store.  Peg board can be found with the decorative moulding, and the pegs hang out in the section with the closet organizers.)
• Rake/shovel holder
• Wooden shelf and brackets from my childhood bedroom.

You got a sneak peak of the peg board here, but it's about time to check out the full outcome.

I decided not to repaint the shelves and left them the original purple of my childhood bedroom.  The 2 shelves were once upon a time a single shelf that spanned the length of my bedroom about a foot and a half from the ceiling and was home to my stuffed animal collection.  I was cool like that.

After suffering through the abuse of a child/teenager's room, then getting chopped in half and transported to Massachusetts, the shelves were a little worse for wear.  Sandpaper to the rescue!  I roughed up the edges a bit and made the scratches blend in.

Well, what do you think?

Chair Buyer's Anonymous

I hope you had a fantastic weekend! I had a great weekend with friends, family, and checked a few things off my To-Do list.  Most importantly, I got my tag- sale mojo back!  After weeks of disappointing tag sales filled with crap, I found a GEM!!

My name is Karen, and I have a tag-sale chair addiction.  Is there a support group for that?

This weekend's fantastic find is a wrought iron and bamboo folding chair.  And it cost..... wait for it.....

$5!

I won't even try to guess its vintage, but I know it's old.  The tag sale that it came from was sooo cool to poke through- filled with tons of Asian antiques at my kind of prices (aka cheap).  The chair is in amazing condition aside from 2 cracked bamboo pieces on the seat.  Once I Gorilla Glue those sucka's back together, the seat and back are going to get a fresh coat of paint.

Here's where I'm looking for your input.  I'm torn on how I should paint it.  The wrought iron is staying untouched no matter what, so the question is: do I repaint the back and seat close to it's current color and keep it as original as possible, or do I paint the back and seat a contrasting pop color?

Or.... do I throw all caution to the wind and NOT repaint it, just try and touch up the mended bamboo pieces?

Oh the possibilities!